Russia denies reports that it issued an ultimatum to Ukrainian armed forces in Crimea, according to the Interfax news agency which cites an official from Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. The official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry described information about the ultimatum as ‘total nonsense’.
The Russian Black Sea fleet based in Crimea denied on Monday there were plans to storm Ukrainian military positions on the peninsula, calling reports of an ultimatum “nonsense,” Interfax said.
“That is complete nonsense,” a representative of the fleet was quoted as saying after Ukraine’s regional military said it had received an ultimatum to surrender early Tuesday or face attack.
“We are used to daily accusations of using force against our Ukrainian colleagues,” he said. “Efforts to make us clash won’t work.”
For now there is no need to deploy Russian Armed Force in Ukraine, State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin said on Monday, following the Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement earlier in the day that Russia’s Black Sea Fleet units, currently stationed in Crimea, aren’t interfering with internal events of Ukrainian politics.
“The decision made by the Federation Council issues the mandate. This right could be used if the necessity arises. But there is no such necessity at the moment,” Naryshkin added in an interview with Rossiya 24 television commenting on Russian senators’ decision to give the president the right to send troops to Ukraine.
Asked whether an opportunity exists to settle the situation in Ukraine through political dialogue, Naryshkin said, “Of course, it does.”
“Like my colleagues, I do not even want to use the word “war “. The Federation Council adopted a decision that simply gives the right to use force if need be and for now there is none,” Naryshkin said.
“The most essential human right is the right to live. Life is our main asset,” he added.
The State Duma Speaker also said that calls for Russia’s international isolation will only further escalate Ukraine’s crisis.
“These calls are shortsighted, of course. They will further escalate the situation instead of settling the conflict,” Naryshkin said commenting on official US statements.
“Some statements claiming that Russia lives by 19th, not 21st century rules when it initiates aggression under a far-fetched pretext, are not even amusing. This reminds of a well known at the UN Security Council, who was followed by aggression that caused heavy loss of life in Iraq,” he said. No one answered for that, Naryshkin said.
